Dr. Grodzicker proposes to organize a Cold Spring Harbor Conference on Programmed Cell Death (PCD) on Sept. 17-21, 1997 on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Campus, NY. PCD, or apoptosis, is a genetically controlled cellular process wherein a cell will die in response to specific physiological and environmental signals. Interest in the field has exploded recently in part because gene products controlling PCD have been identified and the pathways they regulate have begun to emerge. Furthermore, PCD has been demonstrated to be present in many physiological and pathological processes. Members of the field of PCD are a diverse group whose interests span from invertebrate to mammalian developmental biology, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, immunology and inflammation, virology, biochemistry, structural biology, cell cycle control, and transcription. The objective of this PCD conference is to bring together researchers working in these diverse aspects of PCD. The meeting plan includes eight plenary and three poster sessions, in which participation by junior scientists will be encouraged. The ultimate intention is to create a meeting environment suitable for the exchange of information and ideas which will hopefully foster advancement of the field toward the identification of the biochemical and molecular events controlling apoptosis. Work in this area is relevant to investigators interested in: development, oncology, immunology, virology, biochemistry cell cycle control and transcription.